#anettingnewzealandadventure: The Nettings Do NZ

This week was our first full week with Poppa in NZ! As we were already in the south part of the southern island we decided to spend the week exploring! We woke up Monday morning in Queenstown to SNOW! I had told my dad not to bother packing any warm wintery gear….why would he…we are approaching summer! The snow was actually sticking and none of us were prepared. Good thing it only lasted half a day! We checked out downtown Queenstown a bit more and grabbed lunch at a pub. Then we made our way to Kinloch which is a little over an hour northwest of Queenstown and on Lake Wakatipu. The plan was to head to Kinloch Lodge, a remote little lodge that is close to The Routeburn Track (one of the great walks in NZ), so Caleb could have a little adventure after driving us around all weekend and supporting us on the run! We didn’t have the greatest weather, the snow had turned to rain, and part of the hike was closed because of all of the snow they got so Caleb didn’t make it quite as far as he wanted. Poppa, Kensley and I hung around the lodge, went for walks and runs and had coffee at the cafe . We had our own rooms but the lounge and washrooms were shared so it wasn’t the worst situation but it wasn’t the greatest either :P. Well actually, Poppa shared his room with a nest of very noisy birds for two nights! Although cut a bit short, Caleb really enjoyed his hike! He says it was beautiful, busier than expected with a lot of people and limited by visibility and snow. He thinks he only got glimpses of the views that make it beautiful.

From Kinloch, we made our way back to Queenstown and ate at the famous Fergburger – it was DEFINITELY worth the line up! Then we continued our drive to Wanaka, which was a beautiful mountainous drive a little under 1.5 hours northeast of Queenstown. I loved Wanaka! It is a quaint, cutesy town located on Lake Wanaka and is surrounded by mountains. I could’ve hung out here all week and Poppa agrees! Caleb found Queenstown busy and touristy and compared it to Whistler in Canada, whereas, Wanaka is like the Squamish. The plan was for Caleb to do another day hike, but again, the weather didn’t cooperate. Caleb doesn’t care about the rain but what’s the point of hiking up a mountain when you can’t see any of the views. So we all hung out, got in a run, checked out the town, ate good food, drank some beer and Caleb did some kayaking! It was pretty perfect. Luckily, the day we were leaving the weather cleared up so Caleb took 3 hours in the morning to really motor up Roy Peak before driving us 5 hours home! It was a pretty wide open trail that got him up to 1500m. He was really happy he did this as he saw some beautiful views but again, it was a bit crowded. He even witnessed a proposal…seems a bit lame compared to Mount Royal :P.

While it was really fun to explore, I think we all looked forward to returning home! We had a pretty relaxing weekend. Poppa and I got out for a run so I could show him some routes and Poppa explored a bit on his own. Caleb did some kayaking and surfing. Also, Caleb and I got out for a few beers, spontaneously, which was really nice! We visited the pub that is a stones throw from our place and typically responsible for loud music keeping us up at night.

Kensley was a trooper all week. Poppa says, “she’s unbelievable!” He’s not biased at all. She was waking more (like 3x) per night while we are away but I can’t really complain because she traveled so well, otherwise. Her second bottom tooth has completely cut through now. Poppa calls her snow white because whenever we are outside the birds are around her and she talks to them. He also loves walking with her in her stroller because she screams with joy most of the time, so no bell is required for warning that we are coming. She is so happy and continues to love food! She has starting pointing and loves to point at her daddy and scream happily! She is able to point out a bird in her books and she still loves to initiate and play peek-a-boo. She is working towards crawling as she is getting on her hands and knees. Caleb, Poppa and I have a bet going about when she is actually going to put it all together! She also really loves to stand, with help of course. She is a REALLY big hit with Asian tourists; they seriously surround her and ask if they can take her picture. She loves having her Poppa around.

“We are all in close quarters.” “We’re not in close quarters.” A little inside joke for Poppa, Caleb and I.

A huge shout out to Jacqui who basically planned our road trip for us :)

Oh and Nikki and Nicole booked a trip to visit us in March for 5 days and Kensley's Auntie Autumn and Granny and Grandpa booked their trip for later in March as well!